The Swing Finally Gets the Respect It Deserves

After centuries of being taken for granted, the swing's finally getting its due. The ubiquitous playground fixture joined this year’s list of inductees into the Toy Hall of Fame.

While most people with a soul understand that the swing is one of the finest, most durable devices for fun ever created, no one really thinks about the swing. Everyone just expects it to be there, waiting, ready to lift you high above that bar, almost too far, but always gently returning you to safety.

This isn’t just a win for the swing, it’s a victory for all of swing kind. Tyre swings, natural swings, rope swings, porch swings, baby swings, canopy swings and many others all share in this honour. But not hammocks. Hammocks are just suspended beds.

Being inducted into The Strong National Museum of Play’s Toy Hall of Fame isn’t easy. The administrators keep a tight grip on who and who doesn’t receive the accolade. This year, only two others made it in—Dungeons & Dragons and Fisher-Price Little People. The list of short-listed losers included Nerf, the colouring book, Transformers, the card game Uno, and Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots. Swing beat the fucking colouring book. We have to give a shout out go Nerf though, you’ll get ‘em next year.